Enter, Spider
by SengaWitch
Summary: Following shortly after the incident at Volskaya Industries, what happens when Zarya begins to hunt down those who are known as the Talon operatives? What happens when two enemies begin to come closer and exchange glances and secrets, while tensions rise between themselves and those they once considered close? Zarya x Widowmaker
1. Blackmail

/Characters are not mine. They are the sole property of those at Blizzard Games. Used only for my hobby writing here :) /

Blackmail

"Do you know why you are here?"

The tall, strong woman emerged from the shadows, a triumphant and proud smirk in place.

"I believe I do."

...

"I told you to hold the perimeter. Why did you disobey?"

"I thought I had a clear shot. I reacted-"

"You reacted foolishly," cut off a rough voice, clearly irritated.

Reaper held one of the hand rails attached to the ceiling of their air jet, no doubt scowling beneath his mask.

Widowmaker stood a few feet away, holding another rail above her head, narrowing her eyes at the man. She'd done what she had, in that moment, decided was the best course of action. The shot had been lined up briefly until everything went to hell completely.

"If anyone is foolish, it is her," the purple haired woman droned in her thick French accent.

"Qué?!" Sombra started and then grit her teeth, narrowing her eyes. "Amiga, you better rethink where you're going with this. I got in there fast and-"

"And what?" Widowmaker interjected, raising a brow. "Decided to play games? Show off? Let our target, what is the word... escape?" she replied cooly.

Sombra's brows furrowed together, her teeth clenched and her grip on the rail tightening. "You're lucky you're face is so pretty, perra... De lo contrario, me gustaría reorganizarlo para que parezca tan desagradable como lo es en el interior..." she muttered.

"Enough!" Reaper barked, glancing between the two as the jet hit minor turbulence. "Stop acting like a pair of bickering girls. You both fucked up today, alright? From now on you don't get to fuck up, got it? You get in. Get the target and NO showing off," he pointed at Sombra as she opened her mouth to interject. "We're a god damn team. Act like it," he snapped.

Sombra shut her mouth and glared at him before her gaze darted over to their sniper who stood only with the barest of smirks tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Perra..." Sombra muttered.

...

The screens lit up as three figures stood in dim lighting in what looked to be a fairly large room. There were multitudes of computer screens behind them though the seats before them were all vacant. No doubt, left unused for some time.

"We only managed to capture two images of the group that infiltrated Volskaya Industries yesterday afternoon. They were taken from a distance by chance on two seperate cameras that happened to be pointed in that direction for a moment in time. All the other cameras had been hacked and turned off, no doubt by the third member of their group who... unfortunately we were unable to capture an image of."

"Description?" growled the male.

"Mexican. Estimated maybe late twenties or early thirties. Shaved on the left side of her head and seemed to wear some sort of flashy design on her scalp. First hand accounts from those who were present during the attack stated she had a very specific glove that she wore. No doubt it helped her to hack into our systems so easily at whim," echoed the thickly accented female voice over the speakers.

"Anyone we might know or have records on?" asked an older female voice in the room.

"Not sure..." growled the man in a lower voice. He looked back up at the screen, a glare bouncing off his visor for a moment. "These images, can you send them?"

"Of course."

Katya Volskaya moved on screen and a moment later, two grainy images came up.

"We upscaled the images as best as we could, unfortunately they were taken so far off we could only do so much. Do you recognize them?"

The tension in the room grew thick as the three individuals present studied the grainy images. One was taken at a harsher angle and showed a black mass and what appeared to be a hooded man stepping out of it near a door, holding two shotguns in hand. The other appeared to be somewhere higher up. A woman, kneeling down holding what was no doubt a rifle. A powerful one as well judging by the build they could make out in the image. The prominent features though were her choice of gear in such freezing climates, and the fact her skin was a bluish purple. Not exactly inconspicuous.

"Jack..." whispered the younger female in concern.

"I can't be sure. We may need some time to study the images more, check our logs and compare it to whatever information we have on hand still," the man replied curtly.

Katya stared through the screen at him for a moment and then nodded. "Keep me informed. I shall call you three again tomorrow. Hopefully we will have more information on both of our sides..." and then the screen went blank, leaving only a small text in place 'NO SIGNAL SOURCE'.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room.

"Amélie..." came the voice of the older woman once more.

Jack Morrison turned his head only slightly in Ana's direction. Previously his second in command during the time Overwatch had been officially enstated.

"Ana."

"It is her. I'm positive," Ana cut him off, frowning deeply as she met his gaze. "She may have taken out one of my eyes but I would still know her if I saw her."

"She's the one who destroyed my chronal accelorator in King's Row. She's..." Lena looked offput as she thought of how to phrase her next sentence, tapping her index finger along her thigh. "She's ruthless... She's cold and uncaring..."

"The perfect agent for Talon," Ana finished for her matter-of-factly.

Jack crossed his arms and moved to shut off the screen, turning to walk down the few steps into the rest of the lab area. "Talon..." he growled, the name leaving a bad taste in his mouth. "The same group who came after Doomfist's Gauntlet..."

Lena stepped forward, concern written upon her face before her focus was directed to movement on the left as someone entered the room.

"Lena," came the gruff voice from the large gorrila-esque member of their group. "How is the new accelorator?" Winston asked.

"It's working well so far, love!" she chimed a little brighter than a moment ago.

"Good, good. Anything I should know about the meeting?" he asked, making his way over to the trio.

"It's Talon," Jack growled, earning a low gutteral noise of anger from Winston. "Though what exactly they wanted with Volskaya I can't say for certain," Jack frowned behind his visor, turning to glance back at the screens, now shut off. "Whatever they're after, we need to make sure that we're in place to prevent it again. We can't risk letting them worsen the crisis more than they already have," he said seriously.

Ana and Tracer nodded.

With the second omnic crisis reaching new tensions, they couldn't afford to let Talon create more threats to innocent people for their own secret gains. Whoever they all were exactly remained a mystery, but Jack, alias Soldier 76, had a bad feeling as he remembered the black cloaked figure in the image. He had his suspicions...

Ana watched Morrison quietly, her arms also folded infront of her while her old comrade mulled over his thoughts on what they should do given such litle information. Judging by the way he held himself then, she had no doubts he suspected the identity of the black clad figure. She remembered it like it was yesterday, the event in Egypt, tearing off his mask and revealing the disfigured face of their old partner; Gabriel Reyes. She'd never told Jack after he regained conciousness. She wasn't sure she should.

The air remained heavy with uncertaintly as the group made their way out of the lab area. If Talon was threatening Volskaya Industries now... was it perhaps time to begin fighting for the reinstatment of Overwatch once more?

...

The screen was shut off and Katya leaned back in her chair with a heavy sigh. She pinched the bridge of her nose, frowning. "They're hiding something," she finally spoke after a minute. Opening her eyes, she stood from her seat and looked across her desk at Zarya who stood at full attention.

"You believe they had something to do with this incident?" Zarya narrowed her eyes.

Katya frowned. "No... I don't think so. But I suspect they know something we don't. Whether that is who our enemy is or what they hoped to gain by coming here..." she frowned. Moving around her desk, Katya came to stand before Zarya, her expression grim. "Aleksandra Zaryanova... You are someone I believe I can trust. I want your help in making sure Volskaya Industries does not come under direct threat again, but I also want your help in finding out who these people were. What they want. Where they come from..."

Zarya looked at her and smirked. "You want me to hunt them down and crush them before they hunt you down, correct Ms. Volskaya..?"

Katya smiled the barest of amounts. "Точно..."

...

The sound of melodic piano playing filled the near empty studio, setting a intense yet beautiful atmosphere.

Amélie held her left hand delicately on a rail affixed to the far wall, while her right arm moved upwards into third position. Her feet, also beginning in third position shifted and she moved gracefully across the hardwood floors, moving naturally in time with the strange piano ballad. Her wrists remained relaxed while her head was held high, all her movements precise. She finally came to face the mirrored wall, coming to a croisé pose, her left arm forward and her right arm back while her right leg came to balance in the air.

Shifting her weight again, the purple haired woman danced liesurely along the room, her expression hard, giving away no indication what thoughts might be running through her head. Noone except her knew of the comforts this hobby of hers truly gave her.

"Dancing again, amiga?" came Sombra's voice.

Amélie pretended she couldn't hear her, moving near soundlessly along the floor, back towards the opposite wall where another railing was affixed. Grasping it with a relaxed hand, Amélie lifted her arm high and stretched her leg out with ease just as Sombra rolled her eyes, motioning with her hand and shut off the radio in the far corner of the studio room.

Amélie frowned, lifting her piercing gaze to regard her finally.

"What do you want, girl?" she asked, her French accent coming through strongly. It always did when she practiced ballet.

Sombra smirked, crossing her arms and regarded the other woman. She wore nothing but a white jumpsuit that left her legs and arms bare and her hair pulled up into a tight bun. A stark contrast to the harsh look agent Widowmaker always appeared as. The only thing that currently looked imposing on her still were the tattoos she'd gotten since working officially for Talon.

"I want you to apologize for saying I cost us the mission, amiga. Friends don't blame eachother. So Volskaya got away..." she drawled and waved her hand dismissevely. "We'll try again. No hard feelings though, right?"

Amélie rolled her eyes and turned her back on Sombra, leaning down, keeping her back straight and lifted her left leg high up into the air.

"Oof, encantadora..." the hacker averted her gaze with an eye roll.

"You are no friend of mine, Sombra..." Amélie finally responded.

"What? Why? Because we fight sometimes?" she cackled. "It's all fun and games, amiga. Good sport, you know?" she smirked, coming over to the other woman.

"Non," the sniper responded, standing straight again and turned her head to look at Sombra, her gaze piercingly cold in that moment, more so than usual. "Because I do not call liars friends."

"Qué?" Sombra made a face like she had no idea what Widowmaker was talking about. "What have I ever lied to you about, amiga?"

"You and I both know the target didn't get away when we infiltrated Volskaya Industries," Amélie said calmly. She let go of the rail and began to approach Sombra who was no longer smiling. "You lied, mon cher... You lied to me, and to Reaper," she almost purred threateningly.

"Don't know what you mean," the Mexican woman stuck to her story.

Widowmaker chuckled softly. "Foolish girl. You forget, I saw you with Volskaya herself."

"You were outside, what are you talking about?" Sombra narrowed her eyes.

Widowmaker leaned close and whispered into her ear. "Noone can hide from my sights..." She pulled back with an eerily calm expression. "Did you forget my recon visor can detect the heat signatures of my targets? Would you like to explain why your heat signature was standing across from Volskaya, making no move to harm her?"

Sombra's face had now hardened into a serious expression and it felt like a cold snake had just unfolded inside her belly. Amélie knew. She couldn't outright deny it.

"More importantly, would you like to explain to Reaper what you were doing with her? Just having a chat perhaps?" the blue skinned assassin smirked, moving past the other, walking towards the door. "Perhaps you would do well to cease this charade of being friends. You follow the missions from now on, do as you're told, and maybe I won't expose you as the liar you really are," she purred before stepping out of the room, leaving an outraged Sombra alone.

...

Hell yea chapter one is finished! Sorry it was kinda a lot of laying out the groundwork for the fic but I definitely wanted to have the tension very much there for the story right from the get go! I'll have chapter 2 up soon! :)


	2. The Death of Amélie

(( Hey ya'll! I got chapter 2 finished and chapter 3 is already half done so hopefully you enjoy! :) ))

...

The Death of Amélie

...

It had been approximately a week since the Volskaya incident. Widowmaker reached up and tied her long dark hair into its usual ponytail and gave it a good tug to secure it. She opened her eyes and focused into the mirror infront of her for a moment ,studying her severe features. Her intimidating frown, her bluish-purple skin, her piercing yellow eyes.

She vaguely remembered the day she'd first realized how much she had changed over the years since being taken in by Talon. She didn't remember much from before that. It was like a very long blur. The only thing she remembered for sure was the comfort ballet gave her. Even that was the barest traces of feelings she had anymore.

Dismissing these thoughts, she finished pulling up her suit, closing it at the back of her neck and made sure to place the bit of armor she always wore on the back of her neck in it's position before walking to the opposing wall to get her gun and the required ammunition.

"Widow, you ready?" came the gruff voice of Reaper.

Turning to regard him cooly she nodded once before stepping past him and continuing down the narrow hall. They came to the Talon base hangar, the two approaching a smaller air craft that was designed to move quicker when required than the one they normally used.

"Sombra won't be joining us?" Widowmaker asked, climbing the steps into the vessel.

"No. She's been assigned on another mission for the time being," Reaper responded.

"I see..." she commented, taking a seat and watching calmly as Reaper sat opposite her.

"It's no concern of yours, Widowmaker. Besides, this mission seemed to be more your interest."

There was the barest trace of a twitch that registered in her face as she went over the assignment details in her head from earlier.

Lena "Tracer" Oxton was their target. Talon had suspicions that Overwatch was secretly recalling their agents into active duty and there was no doubt Tracer was one of them. She'd sucessfully distracted them from obtaining their first target, the gauntlet, and then nearly cost Widowmaker her own mission in King's Row; assasinating Mondatta.

Agent Tracer posed no real threat to Talon, but she'd gotten under Widowmaker's skin and after deliberation, those in charge at Talon had agreed she should be eliminated.

Widowmaker had agreed to take the mission almost immediately.

It was one more irritation she would be able to rid herself of finally.

Glancing towards the front of the air craft, she thought of how long it would take them to reach London. For a brief moment she felt exhilerated at what would soon be another kill.

...

"Zaryanova! Вы здесь?" came a deep male voice from the doorway.

There was the sound of a tool being put back into a kit and a shock of pink hair emerged from behind the enormous particle cannon.

"Да, что?" asked the strong woman, looking across the top of her cannon's main body at the muscularly built man framing the entrance to her workshop.

"Vasily wants to speak with you," he said in a thick Russian accent, his eyes roving over the massive weapon infront of the woman. He wasn't doing a good job of hiding his interest in how it worked. He was impressed Zarya had such a firm understanding of the inner workings.

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute," she said, grabbing a rag and wiped off her hands, standing from her work stool and moved to put her tools away.

About two minutes later, Zarya entered into the office of her commanding officer. Coming to stand a few feet before his desk she raised a brow. "You asked for me?"

"Да," came the response. A man in his late forties sat behind the large desk, his brow set in a deep frown, his dark hair brushed back very carefully to add to his harsh exterior appearance. He finished singing a form and then looked up at Zarya, smiling at her after a moment before standing. "I have news that may come of interest to you. It is concerning the two suspects from a week ago at Volskaya Industries."

Zarya raised a brow. "We have learned their identities?"

"Not quite. An aquaintance of mine has provided me with some documentation regarding those who attacked us. I thought you would like to review the files when you have some time, studying the enemy as best you can so if they strike again, they will have zero chance of escape," he said, turning to get something from his desk and turned back to Zarya, holding out a folder in her direction.

Zarya took it and with a slight frown, opened it and sheafed through some of the papers before letting it close. Looking at Vasily, she nodded firmly. "Thank you."

The braod shouldered officer moved behind his desk and leaned both hands, palms flat on the top, sighing. "You've been promoted. You and three others have been selected to find out what you can on these people and eliminate them as soon as possible. We have reasons to suspect they pose a much greater threat than we originally thought..."

Zarya's brows moved up in surprise. "Sir..?"

"We gave it much thought. You're one of our finest fighters and I know you have the brains to match the braun. If anyone can do this, I know you can, Zarya. I have faith," he smirked across the table confidently.

Zarya clutched the folder in her hands and then smirked, nodding back. "большое спасибо," she said gratefully before leaving the office once dismissed.

...

One arm hung over the arm of the sofa while a newspaper lay spread out in the lap of a young woman who seemed to be dressed comfortably in a white t shirt and grey leggings that evening.

Lena Oxton reclined in her girlfriend's apartment comfortably, a slight wrinkle between her brows the only indication of her distress as she continued reading up on an article about the events that were still under investigation in Russia. Her group had been closely researching any activity that may potentially inform them of the wherabouts and goals of Talon. It had been a week without incident yet, which concerned them. What exactly where they plotting next, she wondered?

She reached out with her free hand without taking her eyes off the paper for her coffee when suddenly the world went dark. She grinned, her hand pausing mid air.

"You've been reading that paper for hours now... I don't think you could possibly glean any more information from it that you haven't already," her girlfriend, Emily, murmured into her ear.

With a sigh, Lena moved to rest her hand over Emily's, pulling one hand back and tilted her head to look up at her. "I know, I know... I'm sorry, love. This one just really hits close to home," she said, her hand sliding down Emily's hand, to her wrist and to finally stroke her arm affectionately.

"You work too hard," Emily said, shaking her head with a small grin. "You deserve a break," she said.

"Mmm..." she shifted her position so she could rest her head on the arm rest and look up at Emily more easily. "Any time I get to spend with you is a wonderful break, even if it's only for a few hours though," she told her.

Emily snorted. "Ugh, please don't get all soppy on me," she laughed, the two giggling before Emily leaned down and the two kissed gently. "I still love you, though..." she murmured, grinning when Lena made some noise of approval as their lips locked again.

...

Widowmaker stood in the empty room of a new building that was still in the process of being finished, located minutes from the heart of London. She looked out the window calmly, taking in the multitude of bright lights in the city, though was also plotting her best course of hitting her target without being seen. Get in and get out, fast.

Reaper watcher her silently from a few feet away, having only come to back her up should the mission in some way backfire. He had a feeling it wouldn't. His thoughts were not solely on the mission though. At least not in that moment.

He was thinking about how much Widowmaker had changed over the years. How much she had changed since the time she'd only been Amélie Lacroix.

He hadn't felt much concern for her when she was first kidnapped. He'd barely known Gerard. They'd never directly worked together on any assignment or really spoken from what he could remember. To Talon, Amélie was a perfect resource. The perfect route for them to take out their target.

Initially, he hadn't even thought it worked. They'd wiped certain events entirely from her mind and reconditioned her to their liking. When Overwatch operatives had shown up near their base in France, they had deliberately left her to be found, none the worse for wear. She hadn't even physically been harmed.

Nothing had happened at first, but he remembered recieving word that Gerard Lacroix was pronounced dead, brutally murdered in his sleep by his wife, Amélie, who had been reported as missing.

He smirked, remembering the day she had returned, her face as calm as ever, and was subjected to a complete neural reconditioning not long after.

He could remember it like it was yesterday, the day Amélie Lacroix died, and Widowmaker was born. It was the same day Overwatch truly began to fall to its knees.

...

She'd been under for days now, unmoving and unresponsive. She had been placed into an induced coma for a week as her body underwent the necessary process to eradicate all memory of her former life and change her into the perfect weapon Talon desired. She'd been suspended in the cryochamber the entire time, the only sign of life remaining being the dangerously slow heart rate.

To the naked eye, she appeared to have died. Her hair had darkened and her skin had taken on an unhealthy hue of blue in the week she'd been locked in there.

Talon scientists had claimed there was no absolute guarantee it would work for certain. It was all a theory. She was the first test subject to such extreme reconditioning. They pulled her chryochamber from suspension at last that week, wheeling it into the main lab facilities and set up the necessary monitors to her weak heart rate and shallow breaths as well as connected monitors along her temples to monitor her brain activity should she awaken.

There was an air of tension in the lab that night though there was also a sense of disconnect. This was no longer simply Amélie. She was the first test in many to come, having agreed after working for them for some time. The first wave of brain washing they had forced her to undergo upon her first kidnap had altered her memories severely, though not entirely. She still had some semblance of humanity to her, and even showed remorse for the murder of her husband by own hands, going so far as to vomit the first time the memory truly resurfaced. This experiment would utterly change that.

The lab was dark save for the fluorescent lights overhead and the monitors now all lit up and displaying the live feed information.

Reaper entered the adjoining room which overlooked the lab below, watching from behind a one way mirror as five scientists hovered around the monitors, one draining half of the chryochambers fluid to a required level while the woman inside, clothed only in what was some sort of medical grade under garments remained half suspended.

Once the fluid had drained appropriately, one of the female scientists came over and removed the oxygen mask from the subjects face, carefully removing it from the tangle of dark hair without much trouble and placed it on a nearby steel tray.

"Pulse," muttered the male, no doubt, the doctor on site. He appeared to be monitoring everyone else closely. It was undoubtedly his knowledge that had spearheaded this specific test. His expression showed that much, with how his brows knitted together in anticipation.

The other male in the lab gave the pulse diagnostics, frowning at how low they were reading. He turned to look at the head doctor. "Are you sure this will work?"

The doctor nodded, focusing his attention on the woman inside, watching for any signs as he began to initiate commands to his team, beginning with sending electric signals to their test subject in order to awaken her.

Reaper and a few heads of Talon stood by quietly, watching as commands were issued, vitals read outloud at intervals.

It had seemed the tests were being unresponsive. They'd pushed Amélie beyond her physical limits. Though after a minute or two of regular pulse signals being directed to the chryochamber there were signs of her finally responding. The pulse monitor had begun to quicken a little to the barest minimum required to sustain life, followed by her breathing beginning to deepen. Her left hand was what moved first, as though her body was at last managing to send signals from the brain to everywhere else so as to function.

Slowly by surely, she shifted in the chamber and sat up finally. Her eyes remained shut until she stood slowly, ignoring the woman who offered a hand to help.

The doctor waved everyone off, his eyes wide as he watched the woman stand, slowly rising up from the horizontal chamber.

Her head was bowed low at first until she slowly took a deeper breath, exhaling slowly as she tilted her head back and slightly to the right, opening her eyes to look directly at the doctor.

The eyes of a killer were what were reflected there.

The image of the woman, soaked and blue, hair hanging over part of her face and a pair of glowing yellow eyes was an image that was permanently seared into Reaper's memories. In that moment when he'd watched her arise for the first time, he knew she was a perfect weapon. She lived only to kill.

That night, Widowmaker was born into being, and Amélie ceased to exist.

...

As Reaper replayed these chilling memories in his head, Widowmaker climbed up onto the windowsill, glancing back momentarily at Reaper who merely nodded once. She nodded back, the two communicating soundlessly as she wrapped a cable around her ankle, then gracefully let herself maneuver out and down the side of the building, suspended just like she had been in King's Row.

She lowered herself to the required height and made sure to move slow and stay within the shadows of the alley way, too high up for any pedestrians to notice anything.

Using her visor to ensure the location of her target, she opened her gun up to it's sniper form, every muscle in her body coiled and ready to strike. She smirked, the visor pieces moving back to rest above her ears as she looked into the scope of her gun, spotting her target.

"You have interfered for the last time, mon cher."

Her trigger finger squeezed.

"Adieu..." she murmured.

...

Emily smiled at Lena, moving back a bit so she was leaning onto the arm rest of the couch a bit. "Want to go out tonight? We could go to the pub if you wanted?"

Lena grinned. "We haven't done that in a while, have we," she commented, turning her head to look at Emily. She swung her legs over the edge of the couch and reached out to grab her mug of coffee so she could finish it before they left. "That sounds like a gr-"

The window exploded without warning and the cold night air rushed in like a brick wall.

There wasn't even time to scream at first. Or maybe she was screaming and sound had stopped workng for a minute. Emily was only faintly aware of blood splattered up her arm and along the front of her shirt. Where was Lena? She was vaguely aware of someone's hand feebly grasping at the last two fingers of her left hand. Turning her head she looked at Tracer who's expression she couldn't read under all the blood everywhere.

And then it all came rushing fast and she let out a blood curdling scream before Tracer collapsed to the floor.

She grabbed her quickly and hid behind the side of the couch, pulling Lena close to her, shaking uncontrollably.

"Lena! Lena!" she screamed, sobbing. "Lena talk to me!" she pleaded, one arm around her back and the other shaking and hovering over her head, not knowing what to do to stop the bleeding. Why wasn't she speaking? Why wasn't Lena moving? "Please, _please_ Lena, _please say something!"_ she sobbed, her voice cracking as it continued to grow higher in panic.

She didn't know what to do. She was terrified to move incase someone shot again. She cried in fear as the cold wind blew the newspaper all over the apartment, doing nothing to mask her screams while blood pooled under the two women.

...

((Ayyyy! That's it for chapter 2! I'll see you guys reeeeaaally soon with chapter 3 though, I promise! :) ))


	3. The One They Call Widowmaker

Heyo! Sorry I was off there for like a week or whatever :) Had a busy weekend and worked a lot before that on both my actual job and cosplay since AN is this month haha! Hope you enjoy chapter 3 though!

...

The One They Call Widowmaker

...

The chains rattled above the punching bag as it shifted from the impact of Zarya's strength. Panting and huffing, the pink haired tank channeled all her frustration into the bag before her, gritting her teeth and growling as she exherted her power in an effort to clear her mind.

Lena Oxton, also known amongst the task force as Tracer, had been shot. It had been about three days, and she was still in a deep coma, unresponsive to any treatments from doctors. When the crime scene had been thoroughly investigated, no evidence had turned up for who might have shot Lena, but agents in both the disbanded Overwatch group and the Russian Defense Forces knew it had to be Talon who'd fired the bullet. They had been maintaining such close contact through video meetings they began to wonder who would be targeted next.

An investigation had been launched amongst certain agents to find out anything they could on the location of their enemy as quickly as possible. With a direct unwarrented attack it had caused an uproar. They couldn't have been prepared for it, and to go after someone several members valued as a friend and who many liked overall... it was personal.

Very personal.

Zarya mulled through these thoughts, clenching her teeth and finally let out a cry of frustration, slamming her fist into the punching bag so hard it tore along the seam finally, unable to withstand the force of her throw.

"Aleksandra," came a firm female voice.

Zarya lifted her head, panting heavily and straightened, wiping the sweat from her brow before grabbing a towel and dabbed her head and then wrapped it behind her neck.

"Что?" she mumbled, approaching the much smaller woman.

She had dark blonde hair pulled up into a severe bun at the top of her head and wore standard military wear. She held in her hands another folder and held it out to Zarya. "Take these. Make sure noone else sees them and have them back to me by the end of tomorrow," she said.

Zarya took them and smirked at the woman, then leaned an arm on the wall to her right. "Спасибо, маленькая птичка," she thanked her, chuckling when the smaller woman blushed faintly before nodding and turning away to leave the workout area.

Zarya watched her go for only a moment before her smirk fell and she frowned, leafing through the documents in her hand as she turned away from the door.

The first batch she'd recieved only provided intel on what had occured within Volskaya Industries not that long ago. It had provided only the barest information on those who's been caught on camera from a distance and only which Talon agents they seemed to be.

Zarya, upon first going over the information, had gained interest in one specifically. The one they called Widowmaker. Not much background information had been available until Zarya had requested specific documents and first hand accounts of those present during an incident known as the King's Row Assassination. It had taken some convincing to gain access, but Zarya had managed to finally gain the report of Lena Oxton. She was surprised then to see another folder containing the first hand account of that of former Captain Ana Amari. Something about an incident in Egypt from what a quick leaf through showed.

Returning to her apartment about an hour later, Zarya threw herself down onto her sofa, opening her bag and pulled out the folders, then reached to her side table, grabbing the others and began to spread them out on her coffee table. A deep frown creased her brow, her green eyes roving over the various documents as she absorbed as much information as possible.

Reading over the first hand accounts of Agent Oxton and Agent Amari, she felt a coil of dread tighten in her stomach.

Whoever Widowmaker was, she was a ruthless killer who didn't hesitate in taking the lives of others. She had fought in close quarters with Oxton and also was the reason Ana was now missing her right eye.

Chewing her bottom lip, Zarya picked up the first hand account of Ana, reading over it again and again. In the transcript after Ana had healed up, she mentioned recognizing the sniper who'd shot her. Someone named Amélie Lacroix.

The last name sounded vaguely familiar, though Zarya couldn't place it.

She'd recalled hearing about how there had been a murder of one of the higher ups in Overwatch way back when it had been a fully enstated legal group for the protection of the public. It had been all over the news outlets at the time, but then the case had suddenly been dropped. Frowning, she got up and grabbed her tablet computer, bringing it over to the couch and turned it on. Several screens opened up, and she began to conduct a few searches, growling when she was unable to find out much information on the death of someone named Gerard Lacroix. The two had to be connected somehow. Perhaps his wife? A few searches later that was confirmed.

Doing a few more searches revealed Amélie had been a highly esteemed ballet dancer in France many long years ago, but had eventually been kidnapped only to be found and recovered by Overwatch, and then suddenly disappeared entirely not long after.

For some time those who admired her had taken to the media, pleading for her to be found but eventually all searches had been called off and there was no further word on what had happened to her.

After several minutes and no more information turning up, Zarya shut off her tablet, sitting back and glanced at the documents on her table. She still didn't know fully what she was dealing with, but she had suspicions there was far more to the story than she knew.

How did someone who was a revered ballet dancer, who's life seemed perfect and set, become a sniper for a terrorist group..?

Standing from her sofa, Zarya left the apartment after gathering up the documents and headed out into the night again, her need for more answers driving her.

...

It had been difficult for sure, but she'd gained access to one of the computer labs on base. Typing in the passwords required, Zarya began to scour the system for any knowledge she otherwise might not have seen in the two files given to her earlier.

There was something much darker in the history between Overwatch and Talon that had been hushed up, that much she was sure of. But what exactly was it? And how could she find it?

Once she had the contact information she was looking for, she connected to an open server, submit the video call request and waited.

...

Ana glanced over at her computer tablet when the screen blinked, indicating there was a message coming in. Standing with a small groan, she was aware again of how old she'd gotten. Sighing, she picked up the tablet and unlocked it, surprised to see a video chat request coming through on her end from an unknown contact source.

Raising a brow, she hesitantly hit accept and was greeted by the sight of a strong looking woman with close cropped hair that got longer towards the top, styled into a shock of bright pink hair.

"Hello," she said skeptically. "Who may I ask am I speaking to?"

"Good evening," came the gruff voice. "My name is Aleksandra Zaryanova. Russian Defense Forces," she replied calmly.

Ana's breath caught for a moment in her throat and she sat down on the edge of her bed. "What is this call about exactly?"

Zarya took a breath. "Captain Amari, I need to ask you about someone called Amélie Lacroix."

Ana flinched a little at both the previous title and the name of an old colleague. "Please, just Ana is fine... But what does Amélie have to do with anything? She's been gone for years now," she growled not angrily.

"Gone, but not dead, correct?" Zarya raised a brow.

Ana stayed silent for a moment, her mouth set firmly into a thin line before she nodded just barely. "Yes... Not dead... Technically speaking, anyways," she sighed.

"I apologize if this is a touchy subject for you, Ana, but I am afraid I've started looking into the persona of Widowmaker more thoroughly in an effort to understand the actions of those at Volskaya, and-"

"Ah, a one man army then?" Ana chuckled.

"I apologize. Ms. Volskaya herself asked me personally to find out anything I could. We are close. I highly respect her and her work," the pink haired woman responded quickly.

Ana chuckled again, waving off Zarya's response seeing no reason for dishonesty or formality. Pushing a lock of white hair away from her face before looking at the screen again, she asked, "You know then, that Widowmaker was the reason my eye was taken out?"

Zarya nodded.

Ana nodded in response. "Yes, well... I could have easily killed her in that moment. But I didn't. Yes she is the enemy, but I could not kill her because she wasn't simply a target in that moment to me. She was someone I knew from before. I still cannot believe what had happened to her in truth..." she shrugged, leaning back with one arm on the bed.

Zarya could see she was hurting emotionally about whatever had happened to her between Widowmaker.

"You knew her personally?"

Ana nodded. "I had met her several times before. She was married to a coworker in Overwatch, Gerard Lacroix. Beautiful couple. She was an esteemed ballet dancer and he was one of the highest operatives on the task force. Those two were in a way what many people only dream of becoming. But it did not last nearly as long as it should have..." she sighed. "I do not know how long they were married for, but... Talon had been attempting to take out Gerard for some time, though they continuously failed. They couldn't get close to him due to how well protected he was. His wife, though... She was easy to get to," she shook her head. "Amélie... She didn't deserve what happened to her. Noone does," she inhaled shakily.

Zarya shifted uncomfortably on her end of the call, waiting patiently for Ana to continue.

"She was kidnapped, you see. Along with a few other Overwatch agents, I believe they were gone for maybe a week or two before we found out where they were located. Looking back on it I have to wonder if they had let us find them on purpose. She was in the group we managed to recover and everything seemed fine. For the most part, they seemed unharmed. No exterior damage had come to them, but... we did not realize the damage they had done to her mentally. They took her and changed her and then waited for the right moment to do the most damage," she frowned, angered as the memories came back fully.

"If I'm correct in my timing, it was about two weeks later that Talon's sleeper agent revealed itself in Amélie. She behaved normally for those two weeks and then out of nowhere, she murdered Gerard in his sleep without warning..."

The air felt icy cold as the truth began to set in on both ends.

Ana didn't even know why she was sharing such confidential information with this woman. Maybe it was the earnest look in her expression, needing to know whatever she could find in order to stop Talon from harming anyone else. Perhaps this woman could do what Ana felt she could no longer. Perhaps she could repair what Ana had failed to do so many years ago.

"She murdered her husband in his sleep?" Zarya finally murmured.

Ana nodded, her expression having calmed down into something cold and disconnected. "Yes. She murdered her husband who I know she loved dearly, and then returned to Talon and we never found her again. At first, the media tried to get as much information as possible, but they were paid off to stay out of it, noone wanting this sort of violence to be a known topic. We did not want to frighten the public with the knowledge of what Talon is truly capable of, you see? For they are more than a rampant terrorist group. They destroy anything they can for their own gain without worrying about the consequences or who it may effect. They are very dangerous people..." she said seriously.

Zarya felt sick to her stomach at the thought. "So... Amélie..."

"Amélie died many years ago, and Widowmaker is what remains in her place, Ms. Zaryanova."

"Just Zarya, please," she motioned with a faint smile before her expression retracted into something showing how she was slowly making the connections as to what had happened.

"Why the interest in Widowmaker specifically, may I ask?" Ana inquired.

Zarya shrugged. "I connected her to the King's Row Assassination. She caused the second Omnic Crisis, no doubt... She's the reason my life's ambition was put on hold and I am here now," she smirked. "It is personal, you could say..."

Ana raised a brow only slightly, not entirely convinced but said nothing on the matter. "Well, that is about all the information I can tell you about her that you couldn't find in public documents or media outlets. All I know now is whatever they did to her, it changed her over the years. It's as though the longer she stayed with Talon, the less human she became on the inside. I've never seen an enemy with such lack of emotion for anything. She's a dangerous one for sure. Very precise in what she does. I would not let my guard down around her, not for an instant. Don't make the same mistake I did," and she tapped her eye patch.

Zarya chuckled and nodded. "Thank you, Ana. I appreciate you taking this call and answering my questions."

Ana nodded. "If you need to call again, you're welcome to. I like to think we're all on the same side here to some degree," she shrugged indifferently before they disconnected.

...

The wind howled like a wild animal through the open archway as the group stood outside the entrance to Volskaya Industries that afternoon. They were inspecting ways to prevent anyone from getting in as close as Talon had gotten now a week and a half ago.

Zarya tugged her fur lined parka closer around herself and frowned, jamming a hand into her pocket and set her mouth into a firm line as she took in her surroundings. They wanted to up their security, which was fine, but there were so many vantage points someone like Widowmaker or Reaper could get in. With not much intel on the third member of the party, the said hacker, it was hard to say by what means she would potentially enter.

Lowering her green eyes, Zarya took pause when she noticed one of the women glancing in her direction, only to look away quickly as soon as they made eye contact. She hadn't met this one until earlier this morning. Mei, her name was. Zarya chuckled at her nervous behavior, looking away with a small smirk in place.

She was cute.

As the group continued suggesting methods of defense, and Zarya took amusement in catching Mei's eye every so often, there was suddenly an enormous shriek of metal on metal. Everyone in the vicinity turned to look up as one of the enormous cranes used to structure the mechas and move larger pieces shifted without warning, the arm moving down at an unnecessary angle.

"What..." Zarya breathed, frowning before her ears picked up on something faint and she turned to see none other than Widowmaker standing atop the garage area, clad in a white and blue outfit this time.

Scowling angrily, Zarya let out a cry of warning and the alarms went on soon after. Everyone scattered and Zarya booked it to get to her cannon, grabbing it quickly for she never was too far away from it when in an area of potential danger. Especially here, given how recently Talon had tried to come in.

And here they were again, only this time they weren't being patient.

Widowmaker dodged the reign of bullets from around her and grappled her way up higher, disappearing from direct view with ease while a cloud of darkness circled the area and suddenly a man, or at least the form of a man took form and fired from two shot guns at nearby enemies, laughing wickedly as he did so.

Zarya fired her cannon, letting out a battle cry and moved quickly with everyone else to take down Reaper, but her main concern was where had the sniper gone. As the battle took on new furvor at such close quarters, a block of ice suddenly flared up infront of Zarya, separating her and a few others from where Reaper stood, taking out several team members.

"что за..?" Zarya breathed, whipping her head around in question only to see Mei, standing with a gun in hand, a look of determination on her face. Glancing at Zarya, she nodded in understanding before dashing off as the battle continued.

Zarya frowned, dashing off to the right in an aim to go around the ice wall, which she admitted was certainly impressive, albeit annoying in this circumstance. She reached the edge of the wall and frowned as a shadow passed overhead. Looking up, she saw Widowmaker in the high lofts, surveying what was happening below. With a pause, Zarya watched her, squinting against the sun. Moving back against the ice wall, she listened for the sounds on the other side before peeking her head around the corner with a frown and then turned her cannon, firing a beam straight into the onslaught.

Reaper dodged quickly, his form seeming to hover back and out of the way of the beam, turning his head to look at Zarya. He motioned as though he was going to fire her way but then turned away just as fast, taking on a nearby assailant.

Zarya frowned quizzically before something told her to look back and she turned just in time to dodge a grappling hook that embed itself deep into the wall of ice behind her.

Gasping in alarm, Zarya moved out of the way, momentarily losing her grip on the canon as she reached up and grabbed Widowmaker's leg as it swung up towards her face swiftly.

The two took pause for a moment as Widowmaker stood with her long legs at such an extreme angle to eachother, her momentum suddenly stopped by this tank of a woman.

Zarya held her ankle tightly, her eyes wide for a moment before she actually took in Widowmaker infront of her and against all odds smirked at her, quirking a brow. "Ты сюда часто приходишь?" she chuckled. (("Do you come here often?))

This all happened within two seconds, Widowmaker's stoic expression shifting ever so slightly as she picked up on the semi flirtatious tone, before she shifted her weight lithely, something Zarya's eyes didn't miss, only to swing up with her right arm and punch the woman square in the nose.

Crying out in shock, it was enough of a distraction that Zarya let go of Widowmaker's leg, giving the sniper enough time to react, retract her grappling hook and scale the wall of ice and shoot her grappling hook over to the archay into the small alcove above.

"Why do we even have that damn opening there," Zarya growled, pinching her nose angrily. She was plaintatively mad at the woman for socking her straight in the nose, but she was more angry at herself having gotten so distracted by her when she was right infront of her. "Fuck," she hissed in perfect English, running and grabbing her cannon, and with a cry, fired it out again at the two enemies as they dodged and evaded the defense team around the perimeter.

"They aren't here to fight us," Mei's voice suddenly came from nearby.

Zarya turned to look at her for a moment before firing again. "Care to explain!"

Mei fired her gun again when she saw an opening near Reaper but cursed hen she missed. "They aren't firing back as often as we are. I think they're testing us out. I think they're testing to see what we're capable of so they can form a better strategy for next time," she panted, clutching her rib where a stitch was currently making itself known to her. "Ms. Zaryanova!" she exclaimed, pointing her gun in her direction.

Zarya swore and moved quickly just as Mei fired her gun at Widowmaker who had been swinging down on her cable in their direction.

Zarya watched as she dodged it by pulling up quickly with a frown, making direct eye contact with Zarya and then vanished into the higher lofts again.

"This fight is no fight," Mei panted, grabbing Zarya's arm and pulled her back into cover and peeked around the corner. "They're gaining intel on us. On our strategies and what our weapons can do. They're here only to learn. But how could they have known there would be an opening to us today? RIght now even?" she frowned, racking her brain. "They have to be stationed close... That's the only answer," she nodded.

"I don't care what they're here for, we need to take them out," Zarya shouted in frustration, repositioning herself at the edge of the ice wall and let out a beam straight at Reaper, hitting him square in the shoulder.

He cried out in anger, turning to aim at Zarya.

At the same moment, Mei glanced up and let out a cry of alarm, seeing Widowmaker fast approaching from above on her grappling cable again. She fired without taking sure aim in a panic, hitting the woman square in the arm that she had extended, where some sort of purple light sat.

Widowmaker gasped at the sudden cold that covered her arm and she frowned, unlocking her grappling hook and let herself free fall for a moment before firing it in a new direction, swinging overtop Zarya and Mei for a moment within close range.

The two got a good look at her and for Zarya it was surreal as Widowmaker swung directly overhead, smirking at her wickedly before reaching out and brushed a hand along her jaw to mess with her. Her green eyes widened and for a moment she forgot the blood gushing from her nose and the fact that she should really be punching the daylights out of the enemy right over her head. Just as quickly though, Widowmaker grabbed Reaper's arm once she was close enough to him and the two swung out of the fray and into safety, disappearing just as fast as they had come.

Silence descended quickly on the area as the injured truly felt the extent of their wounds. Two were announced dead.

Zarya and Mei carefully crept out and away from the ice wall, regrouping with everyone.

"Where did they even come from this time?" yelled one of those in charge on staff.

There was a conflicting mumur as everyone tried to figure out what had happened and why. Everyone was also confused as to why it had ended just as suddenly though with no real reason.

Mei glanced at Zarya with some concern. "Your nose. You should get that fixed up," she said.

Zarya waved her off, frowning as she walked back over to where her canon sat, brushing off the little snow that had build up in some of the crevices on it and then pulled her hood back up which had somehow fallen off in the fight. Sighing shakily, now that they weren't running all over and dashing around in a fight she was aware of how bloody cold it had gotten. The heat in her face though didn't plan on dying off easy, the ghost feeling of Widowmaker's hand on her face still there as she reached up to touch the same place absently.

"Zarya!" barked one of the nearby officers.

Turning her head, she frowned and the nodded in acknowledgement, lifting her cannon and after checking in, was dismissed to take care of her nose.

...

After reviewing the security footage and discussing in great lengths what had occurred, it was widely agreed that Talon operatives had come only to survey their enemies up close.

Mei had interjected readily claiing they had to have been located nearby in order to arrive so quickly on such short notice; something everyone agreed with. There was no doubting it, Talon had to have at least one base located nearby in Russian somewhere, though where, that was a difficult answer to come by at the time being.

On the way out of the meeting, Mei pulled Zarya aside and shifted uncomfortably when the pink haired woman stared her down.

"Ms-"

"Zarya, please. I do not like it when people address me so formally," she chuckled.

Mei nodded. "Ah, well... I just. I know it isn't my place, but, what happened out there earlier when that woman touched your face. I just noticed, well..." she shrugged.

Zarya quirked a brow. "Noticed what?"

Sighing uncomfortably, Mei looked up at her. "The expression on your face. You didn't look at her like she was your enemy for a moment. And during debriefing, when the security footage of her showed up your expression, you looked sortof amused, Zarya..."

Zarya sighed and crossed her arms, rolling her eyes in amusement. She looked at Mei, qurking a brow. "Look, Mei, I think it's cute that you're a little jealous, but she is part of Talon. We're all in universal agreement there they mean no good. I know this," she assured her.

Mei turned bright red. "I am not jealous, Zarya! I just don't want you getting in trouble over something stupid, alright? Just keep focused and next time if you're presented with the opportunity, maybe don't stare at her like a lion who found it's prey and take her out immediately like you should have in the first place," she huffed, scowling up at her defensively.

Zarya barked out a laugh, tossing her head back to laugh even harder when Mei let out an exasperated noise and shoved past the larger woman and headed down the hall.

"Oi, Mei, Mei! I'm sorry for laughing. Just your wording is very humerous to me! Mei!" she called after her, jogging to catch up, an amused grin on her face.

In the back of her mind though, she admitted only to herself Mei was right. She had to get a grip if she ever ran into Widowmaker again. She was their enemy. She had to be destroyed permanently, no questions asked. Talon was dangerous and Reaper and her were the biggest threats so far in the organization.

"You know, you really have no reason to be mad. I know she is bad luck," Zarya assured the Korean scientist.

"It isn't just the way you looked at the mere mention of her though that has me upset you know," she frowned.

"What is it then?"

"Zarya. They showed up here with very short notice. We hadn't even decided until today when to scout the perimiter for open access to defend. They couldn't have possibly known in advance. Even we didn't, right?"

"да," Zarya nodded.

"Well... they not only have to be stationed close by, but they would need eyes on the inside. Eyes and ears... Someone or something somehow had to have let them know we were going to be out there all together this afternoon." She stopped walking and turned to look up at Zarya. "I'm worried that either their hacker is able to infiltrate us at any given moment in time wherever we are, or we have a trator on the inside somewhere. Someone who works for Talon also..." her expression one of concern.

Zarya looked at her and her smirk faded entirely. "What is the worse option of the two...?"

Mei smiled weakly and shrugged. "I honestly don't know what's worse."

...

AANNNDDDD Chapter 3 is done! :) Sorry it took so long to get on here. I kept making changed constantly and Mei showed up spontaniously and here we are! LOL Enjoy though! Hopefully I'll have chapter 4 done soon :)


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